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Clovis' Inferno Written by _ Mandag _ _ Twokinds _, and all the characters from it are _ © Thomas Fischbach _

Part 3: Cold

The guild master stumbled out into the night, and was greeted by the cold scents of rain, mud and crushed worms. Some part of her body was still screaming at her to turn around and thread herself onto the first and best cock in the room, but the fresh air cleared her mind enough that she could resist. She took a few deep breaths, feeling herself tremble. That had been way too close. Her bits were still pining for relief and her body was still burning with the need for physical company, but at least her mind was not quite as hazy. She felt Carver's warm breath against her back, and heard him shudder. "Urgh. Bloody hell..." He muttered. "Ffffackin'... rain and mud... So damn cold..." Right. She still had to deal with him. "Why are we... hrrr... doing this?" He whimpered through clattering teeth. "I k-know you probably have some s-spell to keep warm or something, but I-I'm freezing my tail off here." She tried to respond, but found she still wasn't ready. The image of his naked frame flashed through her mind again, and her body decided to punish her with another jolt of pleasure. She just barely managed to hold back a moan. "Whunh... w-walk." was all she could say, and started limping down the street. She hadn't noticed when she came out, but the weather had shifted from an annoying drizzle to a full deluge since last she had been outside. Soon her coat was soaked with rainwater as well as sweat. The fox came up beside her, shivering. "Y-yknow..." He stuttered. "The stuff you did to me back in the tavern..." It seemed like he expected an interjection, but Clovis barely had the ability to breathe, let alone speak. "The mind reading, I mean. I... I know you don't like me because I'm a fox, but... please. That stuff's really not okay. I still c-cant... remember what I even did yesterday. Or the day before that. You really broke my memory in half, and I'm... ngh." he sniffled, and Clovis could hear his voice cracking a little. "What I'm trying to say is... Could you ease off me a little? I know you're supposed to be a ruthless leader, with assassins and henchmen, but... You're the only guy I can look in the face without craning my neck back. Everyone else is l-like three palms taller than me. I know you despise it when people bring this up, but..." He stammered. The Prince still had nothing to say, so he continued. "But you're really the only guy here I can relate to. I know you treat me like dirt to show everyone your superiority, maybe to let the others know how wolfish and un-fox-like you are, but do you really have to... torture me like that?" He stopped. Clovis tried gathering her mind once more, but her entire brain was occupied with the image of the vulpine's naked body. It was right next to her, with only two wet pieces of cloth separating it from hers. She didn't know how much longer... "Clo... Are you okay?" She heard him ask. There was a trace of what actually sounded like genuine concern in his voice. "You've been acting weird all evening. And that serving girl aired a theory that you might be sick. Are you sure you're well?" She grimaced, gritting her teeth. Gods, was she not well. "I'm... I'm... -" She gasped as she felt her concetration slip again; She was so distracted by her needs that her spells were starting to flicker. She shut her eyes and tried to scrape her consciousness together for a last-ditch effort, but to no avail. Like water seeping through her hands, the protective spells wore off one by one, and she was left with her fingers curled, breathing heavily as the intense stench of estrus started spreading around her once again, without any way to hide it.

Carver sniffed and grimaced. "Wuff. Have you been on some girl in heat recently? Didn't know you went for low-hanging fruit like th-" He cut himself off and took another whiff. "Heyy... I know what a wolf smells like, but... There's a bit of fox in there as well. What..." He looked at her with an expression of total confusion. "What in the blazes-" Clovis knew she had to act. Fast. She could almost hear the puzzle solving itself in his head as he added two and two together. If this had happened on any other night, she would've killed him on the spot. She could easily suffer the loss of a single henchman if the alternative was to spill her secret. A fireball spell was easy enough to perform even without concentrating, and she knew full and well that he was defenseless. But... Instead she grabbed him by the clasp on his cloak and dragged him into an alleyway. The smell of alcohol, sweat and heat swayed with her as she pulled him behind a corner and pinned him against the wall. "I swear..." She sputtered. "I swear, if you tell ANYONE about this, then I'll... I'll make sure you WISH you were dead." Not the most well-worded threat, but hopefully effective. But when she looked at his face, she saw no fear. Only confusion. He scrunched his snout again. "I-I don't understand... Are you a woman? Th-then how? Were you always..." He trailed off. "...Or is this some sort of trick? It is, isn't it? You're doing this so you can get close to me, make me let my guard down... Or..." He tried to shy away, but ended up pressing himself against the wall even harder. "Or... I don't..." She felt him softening in her grasp. "Please just tell me what's going on, I'm so tired and confused. If you're gonna kill me or hurt me more, then just do it quick. I know how strong you are, you could do it with a snap of your fingers." He swallowed and eyed her.

The guild master had spent the majority of this evening trying to hold back fantasies about men. In the hours she'd sat waiting for the fox at the back of the tavern, her mind had constantly wandered to the warmth of the ones around her. Her desires had been more than just sexual, even though her primary thoughts were lewd; She wanted so badly to snuggle up in the lap of someone else, feel their warm breath against her own as she went to rest in their arms. And now, using her own meager weight to prop her subordinate up against the wall, she felt his warmth through the cloak. His breath came out in little clouds of steam, shallow and quick, yet she could still feel it faintly against her face. And finally, she felt the mask melt. Her arms grew feeble and weak, as did her legs, and she would've fallen over in the mud if she hadn't held onto Carver. Completely helplessly she tumbled forwards onto him, holding herself up by his shoulders as she buried her face to his neck. Her knees were finally giving out under her. She tried to speak, to tell him that this was just an illusion, another trick to test his wit, but instead found herself sniffling and breathing wordlessly into his warm chest-fluff. The prince could feel tears forming in her eyes as she tried to pull him closer; never before had she felt so weak and desperate. After a few moments of intimate embrace, hearing only his breath and heartbeat, she heard the fox's voice again, a bit less apprehensive than before. "It's... not a trick, is it? You're really... I'd never thought..." He returned the hug, pressing her to his chest. The prince could feel his shivering stop. "Wow, you're burning up! Even in this weather..." They huddled together like that for a while, neither of them knowing quite what to say. Clovis tried to open the front of her own robe so she could get closer to him, but her fingers were like lead. She gave up, and stuck to silently breathing onto his neck. "Are you sure..." He muttered, "Are you sure you're okay? Why don't you see a doctor? I've seen some girls in heat before, but this is beyon-aah!" He cried out as the half-fox made another clumsy effort at disrobing him, this time successfully. She tore up the clasp of his cloak as well as her own and dove in under his coat, rubbing up against him. Gods, it felt good, even though she knew how dire the consequences could be. "Sh-shut up..." She sniffled. "I don't need a doctor. I... I need... hfff-" All night she had been struggling to keep her body under control. It had gotten harder and harder, and this was the point where she decided to let go of the reins despite her brain screaming at her that this was a terrible idea. "I... can't take it anymore!" She whimpered. "I NEED you inside me, right here, right now! I don't care what happens afterwards! I don't care if you sell me out to the others, or kill me, or plant little foxes in me. I'm so goddamn horny I can't even see straight anymore, and I feel like I might go insane if I don't get some sort of release RIGHT now! Ahnd- I- ahh- hnnh-" She lapsed into panting and huffing, unable to even speak properly. The words had just left her mouth without going through her mind first, and she had winced as she heard them. But in the end, she knew they were correct; her bits felt like they were on fire with pent-up need, her entire body was shaking uncontrollably, and a horrible aching pain had started to spread from her womb. How could anyone possibly fight something like this? She spent a few seconds crying and breathing onto Carver's shoulder, trying to get her breath back. "...Please..." She eventually managed to wheeze through her teeth, but nothing more. In the back of her mind, she pondered over how she was now literally begging one of her lowly subordinates for sex. But the disgust she felt over this was buried under a few months worth of virile longing.

Carver took a bit longer to answer than she would've liked. He just stood there gormlessly, with the half-fox clinging to his chest. Eventually she felt him pat her on the back. "I don't know, boss... Something about this feels off. I never really liked how you treated me, but seeing you like this is just..." He reared back a little and took in her weathered face. "...Jarring. You were always so stoic and above-it-all. What happened?" The words hit hard. Was it solely the dragon's fault she was like this? The great white beast had changed her body, but had it really altered her mind to the point where she had become a sobbing, begging, trembling mess? Or had she ended up like this by way of her own weak will? "I don't knohooww--" She slurred miserably through her teeth, and thrust herself against him. She didn't quite know why it surprised her to feel a warm and hard object pressed between their bodies. She looked down and jumped as she saw the tip of a red vulpine member staring up at her. "What." Carver looked at her as she winced away from his rising manhood. "I haven't smelled another fox in heat for years, I can't help it." The halfbreed felt an uncanny chill run down her spine; Despite dreaming and fantasizing about it for days, she really didn't know how to feel about actually seeing his dick. But though her mind hesitated, she could feel her body grind itself eagerly against him. She had no control anymore, and somewhere deep inside, she was starting to accept it. Carver sighed. "Right here, though? In the rain? Can't we go somewhere else? Surely you have a room at The Wet Dog, or-" She cut him off with a low growl and another push; The thought of walking another five feet without reprieve seemed impossible to her. "Y-you have a coat... -haah- And m-me. You won't freeze." She huffed in response. Even with the blazing fire inside her, the warmth from his chest was welcome in the near-freezing night. "I know, but I'd still prefer a bed. Or a mat. Or anywhere indoors, really. Can't we go back?" "No! Not the inn! I -aah- can't let the others..." Once again she stuttered, her mind a maelstrom of emotions. Shame, fear, confusion and anger swirled inside her, but her lust covered it all like a lid, and she felt like she was about to explode. "We are doing this. Right. Here." Scraping together some of her absolute last smithereens of concentration, she put a bit mana into her index finger to make it glow menacingly, and pointed it at his face. "Now." He looked between her finger and her face a couple times, then shrugged. "Alright." His voice was calm, but Clovis could've sworn she heard something a little sinister beneath it. "Mud and rain it is, then. Bloody hell." Annoyed, Clovis tore off her cloak and threw it onto the wet ground, leaving herself naked save for the soaked underwear. "There. Is tha- hnah- A good enough bed... fhuh- for you?" She grabbed his shoulders and let herself fall backwards. His feet slipped in the mud, and they both tumbled over in a mess of tails, cloth and wet fur, onto the makeshift rug. Carver landed on top, with his own cloak covering them both like a big blanket. The fox gave an awkward smile. "A little better now. This is actually kinda cozy." He wasn't wrong. The heavy garb formed itself like a small tent over their bodies, keeping the steamy air inside and the rain out. Without a second thought, Clovis led her hand down and pulled her briefs to the side with a frantic swipe, leaving a string of grool between the garment and her own underside. The scent of her heat doubled, and she felt Carver's breath onto her face, hot and heavy. "Gods, how intense." He mumbled, and she trembled as his member came to rest at her lower belly. "How long have you been like this?" She tried to speak, but all that came out was a deep moan; Her body knew how close it was to release, and had decided to send another jolt of pleasure through her system, just for good measure. "L...Lhaaah... Later... Just..." She gave up, and took to cupping his manhood in her hand. "Fine." He mumbled, with an expression she couldn't quite place. "If this is really what you want..." Clovis managed only a short nod before throwing her head back, trying to loosen up. She had technically been through this many times before, but always as a man. And now, as she felt Carver's tapered head poking against her unfamiliar bits, she had to bite onto her tongue. The prince felt her toes curl as he pressed the tip of his member in between her lips; the feeling was good, and for a moment her entire mind flickered at the intense, filling sensation in her most sensitive nerves as he spread her wide. But her gasp of pleasure turned into a groan when he went a bit further, and the feeling of fullness was shortly overshadowed by a sharp, acute pain as his cock pried its way inside her, and spread her to her limits. "Ow. Hey- OW!" She cried as bolts of agony shot up through her abdomen; This didn't feel anything like her fantasies. It felt like his manhood was splitting her in half down there. But Carver didn't seem to take notice, and gave another small thrust. "Carvh-ah! Stop!" In a fit of panic she forced a rush of mana down her arm, and flung it at the fox's face. It was pure reflex, a spell she had learned to cast without thinking when in immediate danger. The magic formed itself into a leash, and latched itself around his throat, pulling him away. She saw his eyes widen, and heard a muffled whimper when he slipped back out of her. For a moment she was afraid she'd pulled too hard. But after a few moments of coughing and wheezing, he regained his breath. "Whah... what the -akh- hell. Do you... want me to -rkh- do this or not?" He wheezed and massaged his neck. "Damn near killed me. Again." It took the prince a few moments to regain herself. Her arousal was still almost too much to bear, but now she felt a bit of fear as well. Not only did Carver know her secret, but he was in a position where he could hurt her too. She elected to keep her finger aimed at him from now on. "Go again" She mumbled, and tried to keep her voice as calm as possible despite her body burning hotter than ever before. "But s-slower. It hhaahurts..." The fox eyed her with a raised eyebrow, and for a moment she was afraid he'd just refuse to continue. But after a moment of awkward silence, he sighed and angled himself down towards her groin again. "...As you will. Just... If it's too rough... Tell me this time, okay? Don't try and break my neck." "N... Not as long as you don't... nnh-" She snapped for air and tried to blink the rainwater out of her eyes, but only felt them grew warm and wet. "Nhn- Not as long as you do as I s-say." She eventually managed to stutter, before stifling another gasp; The fox complied a bit faster than she would've liked, and jammed the head back in, only marginally slower than last time.

The rain and wind blew over her face, but the cold only went as deep as her skin as Carver thrust in just a little further, stoking the feverish fire inside her aching womb. The pain returned as well, but with less than an edge to it; Something about the way her most forbidden bits spread around him felt... right,_in a way she didn't quite understand. "So... damn tight..." She heard him mumble, through the blood rushing in her ears. "I can hardly get it halfway in. Is... is this your first time? A little hard to believe, with how much of a playboy you used t-" "Sh--haah-_ shut up." She hissed. She wasn't quite sure whether the fluid running down the side of her face was rain or tears of shame. "Shut up and...-aah- rail me like you m-mean it. Ahh- aah-!" Her voice had turned painfully meek again, and she decided to concentrate on loosening her feminine muscles to take him in more easily, rather than shaming herself further with meek gasps, moans and stuttering. And as he granted her wish, squeezing his way into her most sacred areas, pushing past the point of no return... Her entire vision trembled for a moment; the feeling was simply overwhelming to her.

The rain, the cold, and the entire rest of the world faded for Clovis, and all that remained focused in her mind was the sensation of his slowly advancing presence inside her, painfully forcing its way in like a probe. Every nerve down there informed her of how her walls conformed to the shape of his foxhood, how they widened and squeezed around him, sucking hungrily at his shaft as he drove it further, further... Pain. Collossal pain. Usually, she would mitigate it by gritting her teeth and clenching her muscles. But as she tensed her innermost parts in a display of helpless reflex, she only made it worse, tightening herself around him like a vice. But the pain was accompanied by the same feeling of fulfilment and pleasure as before; Her nerves were screaming out not only in pain, but pure, untarnished bliss at the violent intrusion to her privates. And dazed as she was, she came to understand that_this_ was what her body desired, this was what she needed. And through the great agony, her entire system seemed to rejoice at the indescribable relief. Although once again her joy was cut short, as Carver's cock came to a stop inside her.

Slowly, the world came back to her with the rain, mud and shame, and she was once again lying on the hard ground with only her own dirty coat as cushion. She could just barely feel her own claws digging deep into the fox's slender back, and his face, hovering only inches above her own, was contorted with pain. It took the prince a moment to get her tongue back under control; "Wh -hng- why are you st-stopping? I'm not... I'm s-so -hahh- hn-" Once again she lapsed into meaningless blabbering, weakly trying to to push herself further onto his manhood, grinding her belly against his. He groaned in return, teeth grit; "This... hurts. A lot. You'd better pull your claws back in, or... argh!" "Or what?" She managed to wheeze, still latched onto him from below. "You better -hnh-_keep going, _fox. And don't you... -aahh-_dare stop, or I'll... I'll..."_ Clovis didn't quite know what she would do of he decided to disobey her; Magic was pretty much out of the question at this point, and he had her pinned against the ground. Besides, her body was almost paralyzed with the aching need for him to fill her, and it felt like she could barely move a muscle. She may be completely defenseless, but she didn't have to let him know that. But to her immense relief, Carver gave a low growl and went back to work between her legs, and soon he worked himself up to a steady rhythm, splitting her wide with every thrust of his slim hips. The prince tried her best to keep up, but found herself once again stunned by the alien sensation of his meat pumping away at her, every stab knocking another frantic moan from her throat. Through the blurry corner of her eye she could see her toes curling and splaying in tandem with the fox's intrusions, her claws scraping at the air. Nearly insane with pleasure, the half-breed shut her eyes and lowered her head to Carver's chest, breathing erratically into his damp fur. Gods,_he smelled so _good! The scent of his damp, aroused body mixed with her own heavy estrus went straight to her head, and she was surprised to find that she almost preferred the fox-like odor over the wolf-scent which surrounded her most of the time.

Then suddenly, he pushed in deeper than before, and she could distantly feel her claws shredding his back as her entire body contorted from the shock; She had never imagined that something could feel so painful yet so good at the same time. She felt him flinch in response, but this time he didn't stop, and instead pounded away harder and faster than ever before. It took all her concentration not to scream. With white static dancing across her vision, the prince laid her head back and gazed up at his face, at his clenched teethand flat-backwards ears. And she was overcome by an irresistable urge to get closer to him, bypassing her own best interests and tattered sense of pride. Without thinking, she thrust herself forward and latched her own shivering lips around his, nearly biting down on his mouth in a desperate, starving kiss. At first it felt like a one-sided endeavour as she pushed his tongue back, forcing herself onto his palate whilst laying heavy breaths through her nose. But after a few seconds of heavy panting, he started pushing back. The prince was almost overhwelmed by how soft yet strong his warm tongue was, as it wrestled her own. With her body pinned to the ground under his full weight, and two of her openings dominated by his presence, Clovis resigned herself to a shameful submission, and let herself relax ; Some part of her still screamed that this was a bad idea, that she was supposed to be stronger than this, that Carver was beneath her. But the joy combined with the warmth of his tight embrace screamed so much louder than her own pride, she couldn't even imagine trying to fight back at this point. So instead she fastened her grip around his back, and let the waves of pleasure wash over her. All her other senses were dulled, and the only thing that remained was his hot breath down her throat, and the ever intensifying pumps of his cock. Soon she could also feel just the tiniest squirts of warm liquid shooting from his tip, small rivulets of vulpine precum coating the walls of her chamber along with her own secretions. The half-breed broke free from the kiss to clear her breath, and ended up almost screaming into the wet night. She shut her eyes against the rain and allowed herself to enjoy it all; She had gone so long without this kind of physical company that she'd almost forgotten how good it was to feel the warmth of another keidran's body next to her own, heated by their frantic lovemaking. "G-gods... Harder!" The words slipped out along with a moan and a gasp, and Clovis wasn't even annoyed at her own unwilling outbursts anymore; It didn't matter anymore. Nothing did. Nothing but her own desires and Carver's company.

Time seemed to come in ebbs and flows for Clovis, and she lost track of it between the deep thrusts. She couldn't tell whether they had been huddled together under the fox's cloak for two minutes or half an hour; She was lost on a cloud of blissful relief, and the rest of the world faded around her. That was, until Carver slowed his pace down until he ground to a halt inside her, shaft buried halfway in her burning depths. It wasn't until he lifted his chest away from hers, and started prying her claws off his back, that the guild master realized something was wrong. "Whah... why- haah.Aaah-" She panted, fruitlessly trying to take the reins of her own mouth, having only used it for kissing and moaning the last ten minutes or so. But the fox seemed to ignore her attempts at communication, as he ripped himself away from her and got up to his knees. "...There we... go." He huffed, chest heaving as he wiped his brow. "Can't believe I... pulled that off. Bloody hell." "P-pulled what off?" She replied, just as the withdrawal started hitting her; Without his the frantic movement, she felt... empty._The numbing sense of fullness and pleasure started running off her, and slowly the world returned, wet, cold and noisy. But more worryingly, the painful fire in her loins started flaring up again, more powerful than ever. "Get... get back to... h-humping me, you d.. _-hah- dumb fox..." Her voice trembled slightly more than she'd liked, and she was hit by a sudden wave of intense longing; He was so close to her, why couldn't he just... do as she said? "Or else you'll... what?" He mused, staring down at her as she laid flat on the ground beneath him. "Are you going to zap me with...this?" Clovis had to blink a few raindrops from her eyes to see what he was holding, but once she did, her breath caught still in her throat. "My... my mana bracelet!" she sputtered, dumbfounded as the full gravity of the situation came crashing down on her.

"Yep. That's right." Carver replied flatly. "Your mana bracelet. You don't seem to be quite in control of your magic right now, and you've nearly killed me twice in the last few hours. I wouldn't risk it a third time, so I slipped it of your arm. You're not all that perceptive tonight." "You... you kissed me just so you could steal my mana crystals?!" "No.You kissed me,_While also tearing my back to shreds with your claws. I just made good use of the opportunity. I am, after all, a fox; capitalizing on good fortune is what I do best." The prince's mind was racing now, trying to find out how, how in the world she could have been so stupid. In her weak-willed carnal heat, she had left herself exposed, open and helpless, and now Carver had complete control over her. She made a half-hearted attempt at snatching the bracelet out of his hand, but froze halfway, moaning; His shaft was still planted firmly inside her, throbbing faintly, and he needed only stir it slightly to shake her whole frame. "G_hah!_G-give it... back!" She whimpered, but he shook his head. "Don't think so... Not right now, that's for sure." He reared back a little and let out a painful groan. Though half his face was covered by strands of wet, limp hair, Clovis could see him furrow his brow and grit his teeth, fangs on display in a tired snarl. He was shivering faintly, battered by the freezing rain, and his breath came out as little clouds, rising past his snout. "Gods, what a bloody headache..." he mumbled, and she could hear the exhaustion through his voice. She suddenly remembered that he apparently hadn't slept for days. The prince tried to get her breath and mind under control; This was dangerous territory now. The assassin could in theory do whatever he desired with her, and her body was bound by heat, fatigue and numbing lust. She would have to use her head. But her head was already more clouded than ever before, and it didn't help when her nethers started cramping up around him, and her fur bristled, her nipples hardened and poked out under her flattened fur. "So... what to do with you..." he muttered, and the tone in his voice indicated that he really didn't care. "Y-you can start with-" "Fucking you silly, I know. You've been begging me to do that for a good fifteen minutes or so. And in that time, you've..." he put a hand in under the back of his robe, and it came back stained red. "...Clawed me bloody. This is the most painful sex I've had in a while, and you'll probably rip my throat out or something when you climax. I'd rather not." He gave a single short thrust, and was rewarded with a sharp whimpering exhale from Clovis. "So I think _you should start with telling me what he hell is going on. I feel like I've earned that, and now you don't really have a choice. I want to know if you've always been like this... Was your athletic male body an illusion? Does anyone else know? And why are you jumping on _me_of all people? I thought you hated me, as you do with everyone of my kind." "I'm not... answering your dumb questions, Carver. Get to work." She spat, and instantly regretted it; snarky, uncaring retorts were almost a reflex to her as she was used to always being the most powerful person in the room. "Oh? How about I give you a reason to? I happen to know exactly what would hurt you the most right now..." "What, you're gonna snitch to the guild?" The prince snorted. "Like I'm afraid of them. And it's not like... -hah- they would believe a bush-tail like you anyways." She tried her best to play hard like she always did, but all she got from the fox was a shake of his head and a look that was disconcertingly similar to that of pity.

"No. I honestly don't care what the guild does with you. And judging by your actions tonight I wouldn't be surprised if they found out soon without my help. No, I will simply do this:" And with a movement from his hips, he pulled away from her. Clovis could feel his member slipping out, and it left behind it a cold vacuum. Her lips closed around the tip of his head as he pulled out completely, as if to kiss it goodbye.

The sensations and emotions that gripped The Prince of Greed at that moment would be hard to describe to anyone who hasn't been in heat, and were completely alien to her as well. The first thing to hit her was a strange feeling that there was something _missing_from her body, like that of someone who has recently lost a limb. Though it had only been there for a few minutes, Carver's presence had already become so familiar and natural to her that it felt strange to lose it. The second feeling to assault her was a sense of irresistable need, and a painful arousal so intense that she couldn't even breathe; it felt like her entire world would end in a few seconds if Carver didn't put himself back inside her. And then at last came the cold. It seeped straight through her sodden pelt, and continued through her flesh until its icy tendrils stabbed through her bone marrow. The change in temperature from a comfortable warmth to this near-freezing cold hurled her body into an uncontrollable shudder, shocked and paralyzed as if she'd fallen through the ice on a lake mid-winter.

"C-caarrv-haah!" she stuttered feebly, her trembling fingers reaching sluggishly for his warm body. Through a haze of rain, tears and desperation she could see him gazing down with something that looked like a mix of disgust and remorse, with maybe a hint of sadistic joy. "-Girls in heat really only care about one thing. The primal instinct to breed overrides everything else, no matter how hard they try to resist it. It drives them to perform acts that they would otherwise consider degrading, disgusting and degenerate. If you want to take advantage of one and get her to do things she otherwise wouldn't, this would be the time to do it. After all, women have weaker minds than men, and this is never more apparent than during estrus...-" Carver recited. "Does that sound familiar to you? I have a pretty good memory, and I'm pretty sure those are your words. You used to be quite the expert on these things." But Clovis could hardly hear what he was saying; everything had become a blurry smudge in the back of her head, and the only thing she managed to focus on was how much she needed him to warm her up, to have him fill her again. "So are you willing to talk now, or should I walk away and leave you here? It's a cold night, so I don't think you'll find anyone else willing to bang you. Unless you limp back to the tavern and let the guys from the guild do it. Your choice." For a while the only reply Clovis could give came in the form of wheezing whimpers and huffs as she tried to get her breath under control; Right now she wouldn't mind getting spitroasted by the wolves in The Wet Dog Inn, consequences be damned. But the thought of having to get up and walk back there in her dizzy, clumsy and freezing state seemed impossible to her. "No, please! D-don't go away!" She eventually managed to whine through clattering teeth. "I-I'll do anything! N-name your price and you'll g-get it! I have gold and f-fortunes y-y can't im-mm -hsss-ss- aahh-" She lapsed into shivering whines as the cold in her bosom was joined by another feverish wave of longing, and she convulsed helplessly under him. "Well I'm not about to let you claw me to bits out of reflex again." He mused coldly, tapping his member against her pelvis. "I'd ask you to keep your claws away, but you don't seem to be in control right now..." "Th-then do me from behind!" She begged. "I d-don't care how you do it! I f-feel like I'm gonna d-die if you don't... aah-" This was all true; the edges of the halfbreed's vision was covered by gray blizzard now, and she had lost feeling in her limbs. "Oh, is that desperation I hear?" he spat. "You didn't seem to mind when I begged you to stop razing my mind earlier. Remember that? Why should I listen to you now? Gonna have to try harder than that."

Never in her life had Clovis had to beg for anything. Whenever she'd wanted anything, she would take it, and she had always succeeded. But now, as the freezing cold threatened to consume her, and her body seemed to disagree with every command she gave it, she finally had to admit defeat. "C-carver... please..." she managed to whimper, tears of shame streaming down her cheeks. "I don't know w-what else to say... I'm b-begging you! I'm at your m-mercy... Pl...please..." "What, you don't mind that I'm a dirty, no-good fox?" He replied smugly. "You don't think I'm beneath your notice anymore?" He sighed. "Alright fine, that's good enough. Roll over on your belly. We'll do this the old fashioned way, like real foxes do." Clovis complied without thinking, the fact that Carver had just called her a fox flying right over her head. She felt the muddy robe shift under her as she clumsily flipped around and propped herself up on all fours with her butt in the air, tail eagerly shifted to the side. It surprised her just a little that she felt absolutely no shame at all from presenting herself like this; She had so little pride left that it had become easy to swallow. "Come on!" she whined as she felt him lining himself up behind her. "Put it in to the h-hilt, and don't s-stop until you've pumped m-me so full of cum that it squirts back out of me!" At some point, words like these would have seemed nonsensical to Clovis, and she would've struck down anyone who would suggest that they could ever come out of her mouth. But ever since Carver had pulled out of her, the world had flipped upside down, and the only thing that mattered was the cold, aching emptiness between her legs, and the need to fill it with the nearest warm and fitting object. "Now that's the spirit!" Carver mused, and she felt his tip resting tantalizingly on her twitching labia. Her body made the decision to thrust itself aggressively backwards, but he pulled away in tandem. "Hah! not so fast, Clovey. Give me one more "pretty please" and I'll get to it." The smugness in his voice was almost unbearable. "I h-hate you so much..." was all she managed to growl before another cramp hit her and she almost fell face first in the dirt. She could hardly control her facial muscles anymore, and saliva dripped from her muzzle as she writhed on the ground. "Ew. No, speak telepathically you idiot." he sneered. Clovis grit her teeth for the hundredth time. "Prr...grrrhhh- Pretty please..." "Pretty please... do what?" "Pretty please fuck me so hard and deep I go cross-eyed and won't be able to sit down for a week and HOLY SHIT CARVER JUST DO IT!" He chuckled, and the prince blushed harder than she'd ever thought possible; her plea had grown into a piercing scream at the end, her voice cracking into the most womanly high notes. The fox fastened his hands around her hips; "Alright, alright princess. Relax. Here goes." And finally, finally she was treated to the feeling of warmth. It spread from her vulva and up through her womb as he entered her again, and further up her pelvis and torso until her entire body tingled and jittered from the heat. This time there was no pain, only a hot, unspeakable relief like that of a drug addict succumbing to their first shot after a year of abstinence. A heavy shudder went through her, and she had great trouble staying up on all fours; It felt like her limbs had turned to jelly, melted by the warmth that pulsed through her every vein. "Gods, so hot..." She heard him mutter next to her flattened ear. "Estrus really is something else." His thrusts slowed a little when his shaft reached the thickest point, but that didn't stop him, much to Clovis' relief; Though her lips were stretched wide, they swallowed him all the way until his fuzzy balls slapped into her clit, forcing an unrestrained cry from the halfbreed's throat. The fox breathed into her neck, a bit more excitedly as he pulled out just a little before slamming back in. "Goodness, how long have you been in heat? You're contorting down there, and I think you've started dripping onto the ground... No wonder you're desperate." "I don't knhnnhh-aah!" her voice echoed; It was nearly impossible to speak when her body was wracked by tremors of stunning pleasure with every thrust. She forced herself to concentrate. "I don't kn-know. A w-hah-week or s-so...?" "A whole week?! Didn't know that was possible."

She felt his hands move up until they were fastened around her belly, and his grasp became a tight hug from behind. The thrusts grew just a little faster and harder. "Ooh, you smell good... Reminds me of home. Nothing quite like another fox in heat." "I-I'm not a f-fhhh..." "But you sure smell like one right now. And sound_like one." He punctuated this with a hard thrust and a pinch to her swollen clit, and she couldn't stop the short scream from escaping her chest. And true enough, it sounded quite unlike any sound ever made by a canine. "Ahah. Okay. Now... Does -hah- anyone else know? I've been in the human lands for _-hff-_months." "N-none of the guys. Onl-hy the -hah- snow wolf_ghah!- girl. And I've... ghnh- dealt with h-her." "I'll just assume you've offed her... or something similarly unpleasant. Shame, I kinda liked that one." He fell silent, and for a while the only things The Prince could hear were his rhythmic panting in her ear, her own thundering heartbeat, the low wet slapping from his balls impacting with her sopping undercarriage, and the dull static of the rain as it hammered down around them.

There was something so profoundly impure about this, she thought. Here she was, crawling in the mud, pinned to the ground by a dirty _fox_as he humped her from behind like some animal, and she would've been completely helpless to do anything about it even if she wanted to. She was a slave to her own feral instincts, chained down by desires she had never felt before, but helplessly given into as soon as they had presented themselves. Through the rainy night she caught the scent of his arousal as well. Fox. She'd loathed that odor for her entire life. It served as a constant reminder of her own shameful halfblood heritage, together with her visibly vulpine features. Wolves had only learned to respect her after she knocked the message deep into their thick skulls; The message that she was stronger, smarter and more resourceful than any of them. That idea seemed pretty distant to her right now, as her arms finally gave out and her face landed in the cold mud, the pressure from her own supposed subordinate bearing down on her with every pump. Her feminine cries became louder and higher in pitch, until she felt Carver's hand on the back of her head, smushing her muzzle into the wet ground. It tasted like defeat, shame and bliss.

His breath breath was in her ear again, more frantic than before. "So were you always a woman? Was the... indifferent, cocky, -hff- macho attitude just a front? I remember you giving -nff-lengthy speeches about the weakness of -hah-_females." As if to underline this, he let one of his hands sneak up to her breast to grope it and massage the sensitive nipple that poked out. Clovis spat out a mouthful of dirt, a surprisingly difficult task to perform while gritting one's teeth. "I- w-wasnhhtt... alwh-_haahn-_Before thhh- Dragon... I-I- _Gah! Ah! Hah!" Her reply crumbled into loud, sharp moans as his knot smacked heavily into her sore lips. "Sorry, I didn't quite catch that. Something about a dragon? Wanna -hah- try one more time?" The guildmaster tried. She really did. But every hump seemed to squeeze the air out of her lungs and up through her throat, so she had more than enough trouble breathing, let alone talking. Carver seemed to notice this, because she could hear him chuckle in between the fox-like huffs, and it made her blush even harder; Never in her life had she been so utterly dominated by someone weaker than herself. But some deep, twisted part of her seemed to enjoy this, enjoy the fact that she was letting someone as lowly and weak as Carver have his way with her. Her stance seemed to widen itself to let him mount her more easily, to let his vascular shaft drive itself in and out of her like a meaty jackhammer without any resistance. She could distantly feel his hands on the front of her hips as he hugged her from behind like a dog, and her own claws digging small ruts in the mud. He was getting close now, she knew it from how his rhythm was becoming more erratic, his grunts turning into moans. "O-oh gods, I think I-I'm gonna-" He puffed, and slowed down just a little. Clovis could feel his member throbbing against her burning inner walls. "Do it!"_She tried to yell. _"Inside me, right now!" But her voice had left her completely, and all she managed was a feeble whine. A feeble whine and a strong push up onto the red, veiny hilt of his foxhood.

The events and sensations that followed were in retrospect rather blurry to the heat-ridden half-wolf, and she'd rather forget them completely if she could. The first sensation was pain; The fox used his grip on her hips to force himself into her harder and deeper than before, and her delicate feminine bits were screaming as his knot began squeezing its way past her lips and into her flaming vulva. The second sensation was... more pain, this time from her shoulder. She threw her head back and tried to scream as Carver's fangs locked themselves around her flesh, but the sound never left her chest. The third sensation was a strange dropping feeling, like she was slipping on ice or having a rug swept out from under her feet. She was in free fall, and it felt like she was about to hit the ground. Then at last came the pleasure. It hit her like a sledgehammer, and her mind shattered into a thousand burning pieces.

The loud _"Smack!"_resounded in her ears as he buried the knot in her very core. Not long after came a shock of warmth from her inside as hot seed started spurting and splashing against her sore cervix. It was at about this point that the scream reached her mouth. But rather than a veritable roar like her orgasms as a man, it came trickling out of her in the form of a long, high-pitched trembling moan, segmented by short gasps for each of Carver's frantic thrusts as he kept pumping her full of impure fox-cum. She felt her womb starting to swell from the never-ending load. Then her legs gave out completely, and she landed flat on the ground with a soft splat. Carver, locked inside her as he was, came crashing down on her, and once again her lungs were left empty. This didn't stop him from rutting her, and the doggy-style romp turned into a full-on mating press as he kept going, claiming her in the most primitive way with his teeth on the outside, and his seed on the inside, the warm cum overflowing in her womb before eventually spilling out past his knot. It took what felt like an eternity before his strong thrusts began waning, but right then Clovis wished it had lasted forever. With one last growl he came to rest inside her, completely spent, and she couldn't suppress a tiny whimper as his teeth let go of her shoulder.

It took her multiple minutes to stop shaking from the mind-shattering orgasm; This time had been different from before. This time she could feel every nerve screaming out in joy, every pore had seemed to open itself the moment his knot had painfully forced itself all the way in. And as the first few rivulets of cum had shot into her womb, the ground had disappeared under her. She had never gotten anywhere close to such pleasure as a man. Carver still twitched warmly inside her, and she could faintly feel a few trickles of cum run down past her clit. "So... do I have to address you -hrah- as "princess" now?" She eventully heard in her ear. His voice was tired, and not quite as harsh as before. An exhausted "HmmhhIdunno" was all she managed. A warm, comfortable fatigue had started creeping into her as well; The fires if estrus had been burning her for so long, and only now did she notice exactly how sleepy she was. The blazing inferno in her nethers had been drowned by the fox's seed, and now all she could feel was a comfortable warmth that made her eartips tingle and her fur bristle lightly. She closed her eyes and let her other senses carry her. "Y'know..." He mumbled again, speech slurred and marred by total exhaustion. "I always thought you were pretty. Even before I knew you were a woman. You... you're an alright fellow." Never before had anyone called Clovis "pretty". Handsome? Imposing? Sexy? Sure. But "Pretty" was such a feminine word, and anyone using it on her in the past would've gotten a raised eyebrow on a good day, and a stab wound on a bad one. "I'm... a pretty princess..." She murred. Somewhere in the very very far back of her head, a muffled alarm bell was ringing. Or maybe several, she wasn't sure. But she chose to ignore them for now. She was so damn tired. The ground below her was softer and sweeter than any luxurious satin-covered feather mattress, the cold mud was soft as a cloud. "Pretty princess..." The noise around her started fading. Was the rain stopping, or was she falling asleep? Eh, it didn't matter. All that mattered was how warm and full she felt, and how tight Carver's embrace was. His hands were still clasped around her belly, pressing his chest into her back. She could sleep here. Sort it all out tomorrow. "Pretty... pri-"

No. Something wasn't quite right. Though her body relaxed itself around Carver's knot, her mind was hit by a rapidly growing discomfort; Something about this was all wrong. Slowly, she opened her eyes, and found that they were covered by locks of her own muddy hair. She let her chin fall into the filth, and realized exactly how dirty her entire body had become over the course of their tryst. And when she tried to brush her hair to the side, her hands refused to cooperate. "C-Carver?" she called. Had her voice really been this weak all night? "Mwrf- mmh..." was all she got, and she came to the the sinking realization that he had fallen asleep, still firmly connected to her at the groin. "Carv-grh-" She stopped herself, and began thinking. Thinking clearly, for the first time since she had left her room. The Prince of Greed that she had known herself as, was not easily outsmarted. She always had a plan B for when things went awry. And then a plan C. And D. She always managed to reach her end goals, no matter how impossible or daunting they may seem. So what the hell was she doing out here? The plan had been to bring the gold to Carver, and then take off, had it not? It had been so simple. Even a child could do it. And Clovis was no child, she was an archmage, a guild-master, a prince...ss. "Pretty princess" A voice echoed in her mind. It sounded eerily like her own. "C...c'mon... get off!" She whimpered, and made another attempt at freeing her hands. This time she managed to shift herself just a little, enough for Carver to slide off her and onto the ground, and she gasped as his knot tugged at her cramped insides. The fox mumbled and squeezed her tighter. "Stop that, you... you... guh!" Clovis felt the panic starting to rise in her. The hot pleasure still flowed through her body, but now it filled her with more disgust than joy. In her weak moment, she had let this lowly fox defile her and humiliate her, and she had actually_enjoyed_ it.She had let her own petty desires overrule verything else, without fighting back at all. She didn't know whether the disgust came from herself, or from the subtle bulge in her lower stomach where the vulpine's seed made her belly strain slightly. She writhed around a little, and eventually got enough strength to pry his hands off herself and sit up. Or try to, at least; With Carver's manhood lodged inside her deepest chamber, the best she could manage was a slouched straddle. Sitting on top of him with her legs spread like this was shameful, but better than being at the bottom of a doggy-style romp in the mud. The tired princess tried rising to her feet, but ended up sitting back down with a painful "yip"; The canine keidran knot was designed to keep the male locked inside the female for up to ten minutes, and the fox version was no different. Something about the fact that she knew this from personal experience struck Clovis as surprisingly funny. So funny in fact, that she couldn't stop herself from giggling. Giggling at the idiotic madness of it all. Giggling at the fact that she'd used to be in this exact situation, but always on the other side. As a man, he had taken advantage of women while they were in heat, and the instant regret that had appeared in their eyes after he came inside them had only turned him on more. They'd squirmed and cursed him for being such a manipulative bastard, but their insults had only made his smile wider... Because he knew he was in complete control. Clovis' giggle turned into a full-blown fit of laughter; She finally understood it now. This was as far away from "in control" as she could get. All it had taken was a few days of feminine hormones, and here she was, rocking back and forth on the erect member of a snoring fox, drowning in pleasure and regret. Gods, she really was going insane, wasn't she? The halfbreed forced herself to calm down. Though still reeling from the shame and sex, her mind was at least somewhat clear now. And with a clear mind, she could overcome almost anything. She looked down at Carver. He had the biggest, most sheepish grin on his face, with his tongue sticking out in the center. It was a silly expression, but Clovis almost found it a little cu- She grimaced. No, not cute. She would NOT have such thoughts about a man, especially not a fox. Her female body was still influencing her thoughts. The important part was not his face, but the fact that he was still clutching her mana bracelet in his right hand. She pried his fingers open and snatched it. Then came the next problem. She couldn't stay here at the end of his knot for too much longer; It was starting to hurt quite a lot from the constant strain, and she _really_could not risk anyone walking in on them like this. Once again she tried to yank herself off him, and once again she plumped back down, clutching her groin in pain; It felt like trying to rip off a part of herself, her own lips clamping defensively around the shaft behind his knot. "S-stupid... foxy... rghrrr" The prince made one last attempt. The muslces she had been outfitted with down there were still unfamiliar to her, and seemed to act on their own accord. But this time she made a conscious effort to relax them, despite the intense searing pain that came as more and more pressure was applied. The halfbreed whimpered, and planted both her hands on the fox's legs for leverage as she dragged herself up, straining against his knot. And slowly, slowly her stubborn bits loosened as the hard bulb began to slip out. She grit her teeth and yanked upwards hard. And with a wet "Schlp" she was free, and the momentum from her pull made her land with her face in the dirt once again, gasping. Her nethers were screaming in agony, and it took all her effort not to scream with them. The half-wolf spent a few moments like that, snapping for breath as the cum started dripping from her gaping hole and trickled sluggishly down her inner thigh. "Gh- God d-damn... Oww...!" She whined apathetically. Carefully caressing her underside, she came to the conclusion that she at least wasn't bleeding, even though it felt like her ladybits were destroyed. She took a few deep breaths before pulling her ruined briefs back on and propped herself up on all fours. All right. The next step in solving this mess. She had to get away. Far away. No one in the guild knew about her yet, and she HAD to make sure it stayed like that.

Clovis rose to her feet and looked down at her mana bracelet. She still had two crystals left. One for a teleport, and one for... No one in the guild knew. She had kept her secret safe from them. No one but Carver.

He was laying there on the ground, with his tongue and foxhood sticking out into the air. Sound asleep. Clovis had killed people before. People more innocent and kind-hearted than him. For gods' sakes, she had ordered people to kill children. A single fireball spell would be so easy. So why was it that she couldn't summon as much as a spark when she aimed her hand at him? Was it because he was sleeping so peacefully? Was it because he had spared her from the guild and granted her wishes when she was at her weakest? Or was it because her vision was suddenly blurry? She blinked, and was surprised to feel a warm drop running down her cheek. Gods, was she really about to break down and cry over a _fox_of all things? Had she truly gone so soft? He wasn't even someone she cared about, he was just one of her henchmen. "And your mate" The little voice in her head chirped. "Shut up!" She shouted. Her voice echoed through the empty alleyway, and it wasn't until now she noticed that the rain had stopped. Clovis buried her face in her hands, and felt them grow wet. Were these genuine emotions, or just another side effect of her new, unstable body? She needed time. Time to figure herself out. She couldn't risk having this happen again. "But it will happen again" The incessant little voice droned. "Every six months or so, and you will be powerless to stop it." "No... That's not true." She whispered, though she knew it was. Her tears were streaming down her face now. She had never felt so alone. She HAD to do it. Carver could not be allowed to live. The risk was too big. Clovis aimed her hand at him again. Just a single spell. A single word, and she could teleport away care free. No one would miss a lone fox in a town of wolves. No one would ask any questions. Her next priority would be to sort out her woman-problems, and find a way to undo the dragon's curse. One spell. The prince felt her mana crystals heat up.

Half a minute later, one could have seen the halfbreed disappear with a bright flash and a soft crackle. The only thing left was the disrobed body of a fox, and once again the night was silent.

Epilogue

On the muddy ground in the back-alley of a non-descript town, a robe-clad fox lay sleeping. As the sun eventually rose over the chaotic jumble of rooftops, spires and streets, his nose started twitching, his tail lashed lazily back and forth in the mud, until he eventually opened his eyes, awake. The first thing the fox noticed was that he was cold. Very cold. He shivered and pulled the robe around himself, but it didn't help a whole lot; The garb was soaked all the way through. It must have rained last night,_He thought. He then stopped, puzzled. _What else had happened last night? And he got a little worried to find that he couldn't actually remember what he had done prior to apparently passing out on the ground at some point last evening. Nor the day before that night. Or the one before that. What he did remember, however, was a one-day course called "What To Do After A Partial Memory Wipe" that he had taken back in the mage guild. It had taken him embarrasingly long to figure out why there was no course on "What To Do After A Full Memory Wipe". The fox wringed a some water out of his bushy tail and hugged it for warmth. He remembered the three basic steps to getting his bearings and figuring out how much of his mind was missing; Who, Where and What. In that order.

Who was he?

His name was Carver... Or at least he was pretty sure; manufactruing false memories was almost impossible, but erasing real ones was rather simple. He concentrated. He was ten years old, as far as he could remember. He was an assassin, spy and a mercenary, and had taken a couple of missions in human lands under a disguise spell. He was a hired killer, employed under a man named Clovis. Somewhat satisfied with the results, Carver moved on to the next step: Where was he? The alley was narrow, dirty, cramped and smelled of wolf, so Carver assumed he must be in a keidran town. Though he couldn't recognize the buildings around him, he assumed it had to Llansfraid, or maybe Llwynderw; something about the decrepitude of the structures gave him a feeling he was close to the border. There was also a hint of some strangely familiar scent in the air, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was, and frankly he didn't care. He shuddered and watched his breath rise in the form of a steamy cloud in front of his face. He should get moving soon, or freeze to death. But before that, the third step: What was the last thing he could remember? This question was a lot harder than the other two, and the fox spent an unhealthy amount of time with it. He remembered quite a few things:

A bar-fight in a keidran tavern. A couple of drinks with the ruby-eyed halfbreed named Clovis afterwards. A hitman job on two wolves in human lands. A tense conversation with a suspicious templar... and that's when things started getting blurry. He sighed through clattering teeth. He needed a different approach. As far as he could recall, it had been late summer when he had taken the job; He remembered being annoyed at having to wear clothes over his already warm fur to complete the disguise. Carver rubbed his hands together to generate a little warmth. This was clearly October or November. Maybe even December in a warm year.

So there he had it. He was a young fox named Carver, who was stranded in the rowdy part of a wolven settlement after having lost all recollection of the last two or three months. He was also about to freeze to death. He looked down at himself. ...And also completely naked, save for the soggy traveling robe. Great.

As he rose up, he noticed three more things; One was that something had left deep gashes in his back, similar to clawmarks. The second was that he actually felt pretty good, save for the cold and the pain in his back, and he got the inexcplicable feeling that something VERY interesting had taken place last night. The last thing he noticed was the rather large and heavy pouch that lay on the ground in front of him. He picked it up and looked inside, and had to surpress a little gasp when the glitter of half a thousand gold pieces shone in his face. There was also the faint blue glow of some magical object shimmering amongst the incandescent yellow. He looked around before closing the bag, and tried to stop himself from giving attention to the myriad of questions bouncing around in his head. The gold and mana crystals were clearly meant for him; No one would just randomly drop something so valuable. Whoever had given it to him was probably the one who had deleted his memory. And they had probably done it so he wouldn't ask any stupid questions.

And that was good enough for Carver. Five hundred gold was enough to seal the most chatty pair of lips, and he had never been too talkative in the first place. And so he hobbled off in search of someplace warm. There were few inns in the wolf-woods that would accept a fox, but he knew where they were. He hoped he was in Llwynderw. They had good beer.

---

Darkness. That was the first thing Clovis saw as she came out on the other side of the teleport. Darkness and cold. At first she thought she'd finally managed to completely botch the spell, that this was the bottom of the ocean or someplace equally deadly. To a skilled mage, the only real trick behind teleportation was to visualize where they were going. But Clovis, in her current mental state, had not managed to visualize anything but the two concepts of "Cold" and "Very very far away from Llwynderw" She tried moving, and found her entire body to be completely paralyzed by the crushing cold, save for her hands, and she panicked as she realized that she couldn't breathe at all; Her lungs were being crushed. The archmage struggled fervently, her mind racing; This would actually be the end for her if she didn't think of something quick. Her mana reserves were spent, and so was her mental and physical strength. She focused on her hands, which were the only things not held in place by this horrible darkness. They were cold as well, and it felt like they were stuck in a freezing wind. She moved them about a bit, and her fingers hit a cool, crisp surface right at her wrists. The truth suddenly hit her, and she would have laughed if it weren't for the overwhelming danger she was in. Snow. She was buried in snow. Desperately she angled her hands down to dig, mustering her last ounces of strength. Her arms were soon screaming from the strain, but the pain was overshadowed by the ache in her lungs. Air. She needed air. Her ears were ringing and her thoughts were soon growing hazy as she managed to uncover the rest of her arms. She was so very tired, and the temptation to just give up and lie still almost overwhelmed her. That was until her stiff fingers scraped away the last bit of snow that covered her muzzle, and she once again felt the painfully cold air rushing to fill her lungs. At first it was like stuffing barbed wire down her throat, every gulp of oxygen bringing with it horrible agony. But soon enough her mind cleared, and she realized that she was still in danger; The cold was creeping into her very bones now, and she would soon freeze to death.

So dig she did. It took her nearly half an hour to free her body from the deadly confines of the tundra, but to Clovis it felt like days. Shivering, she emerged from the ground and looked around, heavily dazed and half unconscious. The landscape around her would have taken her breath away if she had any left. She was standing on a slope in what appeared to be the side of a gargantuan mountain. The entire world was glittering white under the brilliantly shining curtain of the northern lights, and the horizon was a jagged jumble of beautiful and terribly unhospitable mountains. The guild-master was almost blinded by the brightness of the snow-white sights, despite it being the middle of the night. She whimpered feebly and hugged herself. The peak above her carved a familiar silhouette into the sky; She actually had a painting of it hanging on the wall in her warm and dry estate, titled "The Edge of The World". Mount Winterfang. The point that marked the end of every map. She tried taking a single step, and fell over in the snow, heaving. The air was thin at this height, and she was weakened enough already. The half-wolf looked up at the sky, vision blurred by pure exhaustion. Was this really how she would go out? Misguided by her own instincts and weak self control, not defeated by anyone but herself? She gave a defiant snarl and sat up. Not bloody likely. Though the teleport had almost killed her, and the cold was about to finish the job, she at least had one advantage; The pure survival instincts had driven out her heat for the time being. Survival took precedence over reproduction, and as she struggled to get back on her feet, she was happy to conclude that she felt nothing but a hollow numbness from her groin. Not that she felt anything from the rest of her body either; the cold had been replaced by a dull warmth, and the halfbreed knew exactly what a bad sign that was. The edges of her wet fur had already frozen into a coat of crystallized ice, and her whiskers were stiff. Like a mindless automaton, she staggered off. Somewhere far far below, she could see a collection of tiny flickering lights.

The hours that passed seemed like a dream for the guild master as she stumbled down the neverending slope. Many times did she fall over, only to get back up with a whimper and a curse. Thoughts of shame, regret and fear faded one by one in her head, and in the end the only thing that remained was a steady rhythm; Left foot. Step. Right foot. Step. Left foot. Step. Right foot... Fall. Get up. Get up. Please, please get up. Right foot. Step. Left foot. Step. The long winter night was about to break into dawn by the time the half-dead halfbreed walked snout first into a hard wooden surface. It took her a full minute to realize that it was a door. Doors are made to keep the cold out. She thought hazily. On the other side would be warmth. Warmth. Weakly she tried the handle.Locked. With no other thoughts in her frozen brain, she took to scraping at the wooden surface like a lost dog, her stiff hands pawing pathetically, her claws almost breaking against it. Clovis hardly even noticed when it opened inwards, and someone's voice cried out in surprise as she fell face first into the room beyond. Finally, she could rest.